Image courtesy of www.impawards.com
Director :
Mark Steven Johnson
Cast :
Eva Mendes……….Roxanne Simpson
Brett Cullen……….Barton Blaze
Peter Fonda……….Mephistopheles
Nicolas Cage……….Johnny Blaze/Ghost Rider
Donal Logue……….Mack
Wes Bentley……….Blackheart
Every great hero always has something in the past that drives them on their current path. Batman saw the death of his parents, The Punisher witnessed the deaths of his family and Spider-man’s crucial lapse of judgment set up his uncle’s death, and so forth through nearly every major comic book character (with the notable exception of Superman). One of the more theologically interesting of the group has always been Ghost Rider, the man with a demon trapped in his body. With the tales of vengeance popping up everywhere in cinema via the comic book medium, it would only seem fair that Ghost Rider would hit the theatres with a major star attached.
Ghost Rider follows a young motorcycle jump artist by the name of Johnny Blaze (Nicolas Cage). Johnny rides with his father Barton (Brett Cullen), doing various jumps and whatnot, when Johnny finds out his father has cancer. Selling his soul to the Devil (Peter Fonda) for his father to be healed, Johnny is double-crossed by Mephistopheles as Barton dies in an accident. Having kept up his end of the bargain by healing his father of the cancer, Johnny loses his soul and gains something else inside him. When the night comes and evil is around he turns into the Ghost Rider, the Devil’s Bounty Hunter. Nearly invulnerable with impressive demonic powers, the Devil needs the Rider to take on his son Blackheart (Wes Bentley) for a demonic instrument of tremendous power.
And on the surface, the film appears to be like every other generic comic book film. Seemingly this generation’s version of the 1980s action film, Ghost Rider has all the trappings of the major comic book film. Start with tremendous special effects, add in a big star (Cage) as well as a beautiful woman whom needs saving (Eva Mendes) and mix in a nasty villain and one has all the superficial ingredients needed for an entertaining film. Ghost Rider looks and feels like a lot of other mid-level comic book films; it’s not surprising considering that the director also was the director behind Daredevil.
And that’s the best comparison this film can be made to; Ghost Rider feels like a Southern version of the Ben Affleck vehicle. When looking at the grand picture, the film has more than enough elements in it from the prior Johnson picture. Taking place mainly in Texas, the film has nearly the same style of pacing and nearly identical cinematography stylings as Daredevil. While it may try to look and feel like someplace else but Hell’s Kitchen, the first thing that’s noticeable is that without the general desert landscape the film could also double for that particular section of New York. The film also has the same deft touch when it comes to action sequences that Johnson’s prior work had; they are exciting to watch and look great. Johnson may not be a great story-teller but the one thing he has shown he can do is put together a top notch action sequence.
And that’s ultimately the film’s downfall from joining the upper echelon of the genre. While the action is superb, the story leading up to it is missing bits and pieces that would allow the characters to develop more. Johnson seems to be under the impression that merely putting up Cage and Mendes in the cliché situations that they are supposed to be in brings about an audience that will care about them. Cage and Mendes make the scenes work because they have a good amount of chemistry between them, as well as they are both skilled actors, but there’s bits and pieces missing all over the place that stunt character growth. Cage is in his “action hero” acting style, bringing a terrific comic timing to the character as well as he brings the sort of edge Johnny Blaze needs to truly be effective in his regret over his one fateful mistake.
Much like Daredevil, which received a Director’s Cut edition that was far superior to what was shown in theatres, Ghost Rider has that same feeling to it as well. Johnson’s vision of the Ghost Rider mystique seems incomplete; it’s as if someone had gone in and ripped out vital parts to streamline the film. While a sequel might happen, if only because the film’s finale sets it up the franchise to continue, Ghost Rider is another in what’s becoming a line of good but not great comic book films.
